Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) Trading Up 6.1% – Time to Buy?

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)’s share price was up 6.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $46.77 and last traded at $47.79. Approximately 79,930 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 830,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PTGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.44.

Protagonist Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 2.30.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The business had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.65 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other news, Director William D. Waddill sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total value of $217,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $712,302.50. This represents a 23.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Arturo Md Molina sold 30,514 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.74, for a total transaction of $1,700,850.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 83,892 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,140.08. The trade was a 26.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 64,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,585,010. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Protagonist Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 20,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 153.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.